What Is An Optical Drive?

Date First Published: 13th March 2024

Topic: Computer Systems

Subtopic: Computer Hardware

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty Level: 4/10

CONTENTS

Types Of Optical Drives
Are Optical Drives Still Used?

Learn more about what an optical drive is in this article.

An optical drive is a disc drive that reads and writes from optical discs, such as CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays using a laser or visible light. They work by rotating the inserted disc at a constant speed, calculated in revolutions per minute (RPM). The rotating disc in an optical drive is read with a laser beam using a lens embedded within the optical drive's head.

Types Of Optical Drives

Optical drives can be mounted inside a computer and directly connected to the motherboard or externally connected. Internal optical drives have pre-drilled, threaded holes on the sides so that they can be mounted in the 5.25-inch drive bay in the computer case. The back end of the optical drive contains a port for a cable that connects to the motherboard. The front of the optical drive has a small open/close button that opens and closes the drive bay door, which is how media, such as CDs and DVDs are inserted into and removed from the drive.

Optical drives on laptops are slot-loaded and are available in a small form factor. Their form factor is known as a slim type and is about 1 cm tall.

External optical drives are connected to the computer using a USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt cable. They are cheaper than internal optical drives and can be connected to devices that do not have built-in optical drives.

Are Optical Drives Still Used?

Most modern desktop computers and laptops no longer have built-in optical drives because it makes them lighter and digital methods are more commonly used to store data. They are not as common as they used to be, but not obsolete. External optical drives can be purchased separately if needed without the need to open a computer to install it.